Audra McDonald

media release: Overture Center is honored to welcome the incomparable Audra McDonald to Madison for an unforgettable evening of music and artistry. The Tony, Grammy and Emmy winner stands alone as one of the most celebrated performers of our time. From her iconic Broadway roles in “Carousel,” “Ragtime” and “A Raisin in the Sun,” to her acclaimed performances on television and film, including “The Gilded Age” and Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” McDonald’s remarkable range and emotional depth continue to captivate audiences worldwide. 

A Juilliard-trained soprano with a voice that soars from the concert hall to the Broadway stage, McDonald brings her signature warmth, brilliance and humanity to every performance. You won’t want to miss this evening of showstopping classics, heartfelt ballads and pure musical magic from one of the greatest voices of our generation. 

Audra McDonald is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her artistry as both a singer and an actor. The winner of a record-breaking six Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards and an Emmy, in 2015 she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people and received the National Medal of Arts—America’s highest honor for achievement in the field—from President Barack Obama. In addition to her Tony-winning performances in “Carousel,” “Master Class,” “Ragtime,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” The Gershwins’ “Porgy and Bess” and “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill”—the role that also served as the vehicle for her Olivier Award-nominated 2017 debut in London’s West End—she has appeared on Broadway in “The Secret Garden,” “Marie Christine” (Tony nomination), “Henry IV,” “110 in the Shade” (Tony nomination), “Shuffle Along, or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed,” “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” (Tony nomination) and “Ohio State Murders” (Tony nomination). She earned an unprecedented eleventh Tony nomination in a revival of “Gypsy” (2024–25), becoming the acting categories’ most decorated individual in Tony history and prompting Time to pronounce her “the greatest living stage actor.” 

On television, she was seen by millions as the Mother Abbess in NBC’s “The Sound of Music Live!” won an Emmy Award for her role as host of PBS’s “Live From Lincoln Center” and received Emmy nominations for “Wit,” “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.” Having played Dr. Naomi Bennett on Shonda Rhimes’s “Private Practice” (ABC) and Liz Reddick (formerly Lawrence) on both “The Good Wife” (CBS) and “The Good Fight” (Paramount+), she may now be seen as Dorothy Scott on Julian Fellowes’s “The Gilded Age” (HBO). On film, she has appeared in “Seven Servants,” “The Object of My Affection,” “Cradle Will Rock,” “It Runs in the Family,” “The Best Thief in the World,” “She Got Problems,” “Rampart,” “Ricki and the Flash,” Disney’s live-action “Beauty and the Beast,” the movie-musical “Hello Again,” “Down Low,” Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” Cinergistik’s documentary “Whitney Houston in Focus,” the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions’ “Rustin” and MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic, “Respect.” 

McDonald is a Juilliard-trained soprano, whose opera credits include “La voix humaine” and “Send” at Houston Grand Opera and “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny” at Los Angeles Opera, where the resulting recording earned her two Grammy Awards. She has issued five solo albums on the Nonesuch label as well as “Sing Happy” with the New York Philharmonic on Decca Gold. She also maintains a major career as a concert artist, regularly appearing on the great stages of the world and with leading international orchestras.  

She is a founding member of Black Theatre United, board member of Covenant House International and prominent advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights, whose favorite roles are those performed offstage, as an activist, wife to actor Will Swenson and mother to her amazing children.